Author's Note

Vorel-beautiful

Well here you go, probably the longest chapter I have ever made. I was In a pretty motivated when I made this chapter and kinda proud that i managed to do it but just because I felt good about it doesn't mean that It is good and I know that so If you don't mind I would like people to comment about what I did wrong so I can try to figure out how to fix It, but If you actually manage to enjoy this chapter then comment and tell me what you enjoyed about It since I'm curious to think about what you guys would think about this chapter. So again, I really hope you guys enjoy this because I felt good making It. Alright see ya later

Here We Go

When we entered and took a look around I was pleasantly surprised by what Torch managed to bring here.

It wasn't massive by any means, but what was here made It so the size didn't matter as there was a decent heap of gems that was off to the left of us.

"Woah"
"Woah"

I turn slightly to my left to find both of them shocked at the massive amount of gems as they start making their way over to It.

After seeing that they were probably going to be busy for a while I turned towards my right to see what looked like to be a makeshift copy of one of the lava baths from back In the dragon lands next to what looked like to be-

"An empty hole?" I said to myself slightly confused.

As the others were busy going towards the gems I went straight towards the hole wondering what reason Torch would have to add this, especially since It seemed like he put extra care Into this specific part of It since It had what looked like to be the type of soil and rocks you would only find In the Dragon Lands.

Once I got near It I started looking around from outside of It to try and see If there was anything weird or out of place, but after looking around for a good minute I couldn't see anything weird about It except the fact that for some reason the inside of the hole was made very neatly.

Not seeing many options I decided to put my hand In just In case this was some stupid trap or something, was It stupid of me to think especially after this place was made solely for Torch's daughter? Yes, was I going to take that chance? Hell no, If movies and games have taught me anything always expect the unexpected.

Set on my decision I placed my hand against the soil expecting something weird or stupid to happen, but surprisingly not only did nothing happen but when I touched the soil I had found that It was really warm.

Flinching back In surprise I went to place my hand back inside only slightly flinching as I pressed down again to find It still warm, almost as warm as-

"Lava, but how? More importantly why?" I asked myself even more confused as to why Torch would bother making a hole to be almost as warm as lava.
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'....Wait a minute!' I snap my fingers as finally figure out what the hole was used for.

"Hey, Gu- uhhhh," I go to turn around and let them know that the egg Is supposed to go inside the egg to hatch but when I turn around I find them on their backs with their bellies slightly bloated and the gem pile looking a little less big, and funny enough the egg seems to be right at the bottom of It between them.

Shaking my head In amusement I walk over towards them only to find Ember and Garble groaning as I stand over Garble as looks over towards me.

"Falkor?" He asked dazed

"Yep, so wanna explain why you look like you have an egg In your stomach?" I said with a grin

Garble groans, "Ugh, don't remind me, I don't even know what happened I just saw that gem pile and then I don't know, it's like I was drawn to It," He said as I look towards Ember who also seems to be In the same predicament.

'Could It be their greed that was affecting them?' I look over towards the egg which looked to be carefully placed at the bottom of the gem pile, 'Well If It was at least the egg didn't get damaged because of It.' I thought to myself

"From the looks of things you weren't the only one either seeing as Ember Is also over on her back," I said

Ember raises a finger before responding. "In my defense, we haven't eaten In a while so, yeah," She said before her arm flops back down.

I turn back to Garble In time for his eyes to widen, "Wait the egg, where's the egg!" He asked slightly worried as he starts trying to get up.

"Woah, hold on now It's fine, the egg Is fine, In fact, It's right In between you two so you don't have to worry," I said grabbing his shoulders gently as I proceed to push him back down towards the ground.

I see him begin to relax now as he lays back on the ground, "Oh ok, my bad It's just I remembered that I didn't have It and I got worried that-"

"Garble, It's ok, you don't need to worry about the egg, you seemed to have placed It very neatly at the bottom of the gem pile so you don't have to worry about It alright?" I said cutting him off as I reassured him.

He nods back In response, "Right, yeah, my bad." He said

"Don't worry about It, though I am going to take the egg real quick," I said making my way towards It.

Garble turns his head towards me confused, "Uhh, what for?" He asked

I pick up the egg adjusting my grip before I respond, "Well while you too were busy stuffing your faces with the gems over here I looked elsewhere and found that there was a hole that felt almost as hot as lava." I explained to him

"OK, but what does that have to do with the egg?" He asked still confused

"Remember what Ember told us about where dragon eggs were placed to hatch?" I asked him

His face scrunches up as he starts putting the pieces together until his eyes widen In recognition, "Wait so If the egg Is placed In the hole then It'll hatch?" Garble asked

"Well not right away but yeah, so If you'll excuse me I have an egg to place," I said as I make my over to the hole and place the egg inside.

'Now we wait and pray that hopefully we didn't take too long, though the egg wasn't shaking so I think we made It In time,' I think to myself as I walk back over towards the others.

Walking back over though I noticed how considerably smaller their bellies had gotten. It wasn't back down to their original sizes but It had lessened by enough to where they seemed to be able to get up and stand on two feet.

"All good now?" I asked smirking

"Ugghh, remind me to never that many gems ever again," Garble said slightly swaying.

"Ugh I agree," Ember said with her voice sounding strained.

Me and Garble looked at each other confused before looking back at Ember. "Uhh, what did you say?" Garble asked

"I said that I agree." She said again still sounding strained

"What did yo- did you say 'your glad to be me?" Garble asked confused

"I said that I agree!"Ember shouted causing us to slightly wince

"OK ok! Geez, you didn't have to shout at us," Garble said rubbing his little red fins on the side of his head.

"What are you talking about?I'm not shouting!" She said shouting

"Ember! Try clearing your throat please!" I said slightly exasperated

She looks at me confused before she clears her throat, "Was I shouting?" She asked

"Nooo, you were just using your big words," Garble said before I lightly slap him on the back of the head.

"Yes, you were, and If I'm not wrong It's probably just part of your molting so It shouldn't be that big of a deal." I said

"Well ok, I guess." She said unsure

"You know I just want to say that this Is proba-"

"Don't, just don't," Ember said grumpily cutting my attempt at reassuring her off.

A few hours had passed since we arrived here now making It to be near evening and aside from talking to each other about how many gems we are allowed to eat per day until all of us molt and from constantly checking the egg to see If It hatched not much had happened.

Then after a few more fire burps and misunderstandings because of Ember's voice constantly going from inaudible to shouting from time to time we all were doing our best to ignore It to no avail and obviously she wasn't enjoying either because It was coming from her In the first place.

Now you may be asking, what exactly am I talking about? Well, I'll tell you, and keep In mind when I say this I say this because I say this with absolute care about her.
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She. Smelled. Horrible.

I mean like really horrible, like imagine you're In school and a bunch of guys had just come from the gym sweating without any deodorant and It was like 90 degrees outside causing everybody to already sweat times 10 and that's how bad It was.

leading to where we are now with Ember sulking near the egg while Garble Is near the egg watching over It while holding his nose and I'm here next to her by the gem pile trying to cheer her up while also suffering for It.

"Come on Ember Its not, That, bad," I said trying my best to reassure her.

"Falkor I can see your nose twitching from the smell and your arm twitching to try and cover your nose, not to mention Garble's still over by the gems trying to get away from the smell," She said all while having a deadpan look on her face.

"Its Much Better Over Here Falkor, No Offense Ember!" Garble said with their voice slightly raised.

"It's Alright Garble I Know It's Not Your Fault!" Ember said back raising their voice as well.

"Ok, Just Wanted To Let You Know So You Didn't Think I Was Being A Jerk," Garble said before watching over the egg again.

Ember sighed as she let her body fall back against the gems, "At least you hopefully won't have to deal with this smell forever." I said

She looked at me and sighed before propping herself up from the gem pile into a seated position next to me.

"Yeah I guess you're right and I guess It could be worse, we could be dealing with a Roc right now." She said

I turn to her confused. "Why would a rock make this worse?" I say extending my hand out,"I mean there's rocks all around us." I say confused

Ember shakes her head, "No not rocks, R-o-c Roc's, Dad told me that they're these huge creatures that can fly like dragons but not like dragons since they don't have wings, well they do have wings but It's different then from what dragons have."
She explained

"Anyways, he told me that when a dragon starts to smell, I guess kinda like I am then a Roc would be able to smell It and then try to hunt them down." She said

"So like I said It could be worse, but It's not, so instead of sitting here sulking I'll just...well, I can't do anything except sit here since I smell but at least I'm not going to be upset," She says before turning towards me with a smile, "So thanks Falkor for you know, wasting your time trying to cheer me up." She said

I smile back at her.,"Don't mention It, and besides I don't consider hanging out with you wasting my time, If that was the case then I would be over with Garble," I said reassuring her.

She giggles In response, "Well I'm glad you like wasting your time with me then, but I'm ok now, you should probably go see how Garble Is doing though." She said

"Well, I'm glad that you're feeling better," I say getting up, "Just shout If you need anything," I said as I begin to walk away.

"Yeah, well I don't think that'll be a problem." She said sarcastically

As I make my way over towards Garble I notice that he isn't doing much except laying down curled In on himself next to the egg as he seems to be just watching It.

"Everything good over here?" I asked curious

"Yeah, nothing so far except a few shakes," He said without turning towards me.

"Oh ok, you want a gem?" I asked causing him to shudder.

"Uhh no thanks, I think I'm all gemed out for the moment," He said as he turns his head towards me, "Thanks for offering though," He says with a smile before turning back towards the egg.

"Ok, well If you don't need anything can I stay and lay down with you?" I asked

"Sure, just mind my tail," He said as I begin making myself comfortable.

Now you'd think that lying down on hard surfaces would be uncomfortable but surprisingly It's pretty easy to deal with.

'Thank God for being a dragon.' I think to myself.

'It's crazy to think about though, the fact that I'm now not only a mythical creature but one that Is now a part of a world that was once thought to be just entertainment.' I recollect

I shake my head as I think about how uncanny and drastic my life has changed these past couple of years as I look over towards Ember.

'Friends with the daughter of the Dragon Lord,' I think as I then turn towards Garble, 'And big brother to a dragon who had to hide who he was to fit In.' I think to myself

'It's not entertainment anymore though, now this Is my second chance at life to make the most of It,' I think to myself as I scoot closer to Garble and lift my arm over him and bring him closer to me which startles him at first before he calms down and starts to lean Into It.

And I am going to do everything In my power to make sure that everyone I care about, including me, gets their happy ending.

"Come on Falkor, Really get In there!" Ember said

"I'm trying to! Man, this Is a lot harder than I thought It was." I said to myself

"Are you even trying!?" Ember questioned

"Ember, I'm your friend and I care about you but keep pushing me and I'll leave you to do this by yourself," I said a little upset.

"NO, no, my bad, please don't leave me to deal with this myself It's already bad enough as Is," Ember said slightly desperate.

"Fine, just stop complaining about how well I'm doing." I said

"Ughhh, my bad Falkor It's just this itching Is driving me crazy all of a sudden and no matter how much I scratch It just seems to keep itching," Ember said as she continued to scratch herself all over.

Your probably wonder what's going on, again, well a couple of minutes after I had my little talk to myself and was lying down watching the egg with Garble Ember suddenly called me over.

Not doing anything but not wanting to move I reluctantly got up and headed over to Ember who was busy scratching herself like there was no tomorrow and also what looked to be slightly glowing red.

After seeing the red glow I was now slightly worried and rushed my way over to her and asked what was wrong. Now thankfully It wasn't anything to serious but It was still slightly serious since she wasn't enjoying whatever was happening to her.

So when I asked what was wrong she asked me to start scratching her back since she was still itching all over and her arms were getting tired of constantly having to reach back there which leads us, once again, to where we are now.

"How are you feeling now Ember?" I asked

She sighs as she continues to keep scratching all over herself, "Still. Itchy. But. Thanks. For. Helping. Me," She said struggling to get out many words.

"Don't worry Ember, as long as you don't start talking down on me again then I'm here for you," I said scratching her back as fast and as hard as I can.

Then all of a sudden Ember starts glowing more and more red as she starts to scratch herself all over faster and faster even telling me to go faster as I struggle to try and speed up due to my arms starting to get tired until finally, "STOP!" Ember shouts causing me to whip my hands back toward myself.

She quickly stands up and starts to feel herself before suddenly sagging In relief. "Ohhh thank the Maker I thought that was going to go on forever." She said

I then see some sort of stone-like material start to appear around her foot as I hastily get up, 'Here we go,' I think to myself.

"Um Ember," I said slightly raising my voice trying to catch her attention.

"What Is It Falk-" Before she can finish her sentence she seems to catch her left arm being turned into some sort of stone substance causing her eyes to widen as she begins to panic.

"Falkor, what, what Is this, Why Can't I Get It Off!" She said trying to pry It off to no avail as It starts to cover more and more of her body as to where now her whole lower half Is covered.

Garble starts to make his way over to us as I rush over to Ember to grab both sides of her face and I redirect her to focus on me.

"Ember! Listen, It's ok alright, this Is supposed to be happening alright, now I know that this seems scary because something Is starting to cover your whole body but trust me you have nothing to worry about, you trust me right?" I asked her to which she nods In response

"Y-yeah, yeah I t-trust you," She said slightly stuttering as the material begins to make Its way to her neck now covering both arms.

"OK, ok good, now all you need to do Is let whatever happen and don't worry because I and Garble will be right here, isn't that right Garble?" I asked as I turn towards him.

"Yeah, I'll be right here too," He confirms as I turn back towards Ember.

"See, we'll be right here so you have nothing to worry about," I said trying to reassure her.

"O-ok I believe you," She said as she starts breathing In and out while the material starts to make Its way over her face.

"Remember, nothing to worry about." I reiterate

"Right, right, nothing to worry abou-" Before she could finish though the material had finished covering her whole body to where now even her whole face was covered cutting her off.

"What do we do now?" Garble asked

"Now, we wait," I said as we stand there In silence, seemingly like the whole world has paused, almost as If the world itself Is trying to not interrupt.

"S-"

crack

We both turn towards the source of the noise as I see Ember's fingers begin to wiggle before the whole stone-like material begins to make a crack that splits down her body as I start to back up just In time for a bright light to appear from within the crack causing me and Garble to cover our eyes.

After the flash ended I uncovered my eyes to find her on the floor In the small crater struggling to get up causing me to rush over to her and try to help her up.

"Ember you ok? How are you feeling?" I ask helping her up.

She groaned before responding, "I uhh, think I'm fine, that wasn't that bad," She said as Garble begins to make his way over to us.

"See, what did I say nothing to worry about." I said smiling

"Yeah, you were right, nothing to worry about," She said smiling before she rushes towards us as she engulfs me and Garble into a hug, "Thanks for being there for me guys." She said gratefully

"Yeah, whatever, It wasn't anything you couldn't handle anyway," Garble said as he proceeds to hug her back, "Though don't get me wrong I'm glad you got through It," He said before stepping away from her with a grin.

"And look at you now, You Got Wings!" He said with his voice filled with excitement causing Ember to turn around as she finally got a good look at her newly acquired wings.

"You're right, I got my wings. I GOT MY WINGS!" Ember shouts before jumping around In excitement.

"I can't believe It, I Actually Have My Wings! This Is So Cool and Crazy, and-ohhhhh I can't believe I'm able to finally fly around now!" She exclaimed

"Alright, alright, as amazing as this Is we can't have you flying around just yet when you just got the things," I said putting a hand on her shoulder.

She pauses for a few seconds blinking before rubbing the back of her head In embarrassment, "Right, right, I mean obviously who would forget something as simple as that," She said as I looked at her with a brow raised.

She hangs her head In defeat after a few seconds, "Fine, but can you blame me?" She asked

I shake my head amused as I let go of her shoulder, "No, I don't blame you, I would be excited too, but maybe we can relax before trying to figure out how to fly?" I suggest

Ember sighs, "Yeahhhh, ok that's probably the smart thing to do," She said slightly disappointed.

"Well not to sound like a jerk but If everything Is ok now I'm going to go back and watch over the egg again, you can join me If you want though," He said before walking off.

crack

"Well, It's probably going to start getting late soon so we should probably sta-"

"Guys, guys, you need to see this," Garble said cutting me off as he grabs my arm dragging me along with him toward the egg.

He lets go of me as he starts to lay down on the floor near It. Confused I try to ask him something. "What's wro-"

"Shhh,look," He said cutting me off as he begins to point at the egg as It suddenly starts to form small almost unnoticeable little cracks around the middle causing us to be quiet as we waited In anticipation.

crack
crack

The cracks spread farther
crack

And farther
crack
crack
crack

After a couple of more seconds, a bunch of cracks had formed completely around the middle of the egg and then suddenly the shell broke apart revealing a small drakina with slightly dark orange scales and slightly dark purple fins atop of her head.

'Wait how do I know that?' I thought to myself

"I-It's a-"

"Drakina," Garble said finishing Ember's sentence before carefully reaching down Into the hole and grabbing her out of the egg as he brought her closer and began to hold her In his arms as we crowded closer to look at her.

"She's Vorel," Garble said slightly tearing up before bringing her closer to his face.
"Hey little hatchling, how are you?"

She grabbed the tip of his snout In response before speaking "rahh"

We all paused for a second before we started chuckling, "Yeah to be honest I don't know what we were expecting If I'm being honest." I said

"Yeah, but It doesn't matter to me," He said before cradling her In his arms, "All that matters Is that she's here now." He finished with

I put my hand on his shoulder. "You're right, and we'll be right here with you to help you out with her." I say reassuringly

"Thank you, really," Garble said smiling back at me before focusing back on her.

"Well If we're going to do this then she's going to need a name right? So name her." Ember said

"Yeah, Garble name her," I said

"W-wha me?" He said standing up and facing us while holding her In his arms.

"Well I mean It makes the most sense If you think about It, you're the one who got attached to taking care of her egg at first, so It only feels right for you to name her," I explained to him.

He looks down at her In silence as he starts smiling over her gnawing on her tail while reaching out to him as he puts her In one arm while using the other to extend a finger put for her to grab on.

".....I think, I thought of one," He said still smiling down on her.

"All right well let's hear It, what did you think of?" Ember asked

He looks back up at us while a smile Is stretched across his face. "I'm going to call her,

Smolder."